Spiral
by MeilinII
Summary: AU. This is a random fic I wrote for creative wrting class. One shot. I may write a sequel. Review please! The assignment was to write a mystery where you saw a crime outside your bedroom window, in 1000 words. Enjoy! I might turn this into a full fic l8r


Meilin: This is a random fic I wrote for creative wrting class. One shot. I may write a sequel. Review please!

Spiral 

Meilin yawned. For a week of vacation, you would've expected more from the daughter of a well-to-do foreign family. Tugging at her necklace absentmindedly, she exited out of her Internet search. So much for homework. Pushing her chair back as she rose, she glanced about her room.

Though the walls were a cerulean, you couldn't tell that at a glance. Her 'wallpaper' of sorts would demand your attentions first. Her room was plastered in posters, photographs, and small shelves filled with figurines, most of which featured the same artist. Flopping back on her bed, she glanced up at the largest poster in her room, covering the vast majority of the azure ceiling. 'Eyes Rutherford…' she sighed in her head. The famous pianist had captured her heart seemingly ages ago. Had it really been only a year? Grinning at the memory, she rolled over onto her side.

_It was pitch dark outside, but within the confines of her father's limousine, it wasn't as frightening as it could have been. Yawning, the young Meilin glanced yet again towards her parents across the car. "Are you going to tell me where we're going **yet**?" the girl asked. Meilin was anything but tall, but she had an attitude that she tended to cop when bored or annoyed. _

_Her father smiled indulgently. "Not yet, little Mei. Don't worry. Kouji will have us there in time." _

_She winced at the use of her childhood nickname. "He'll have us **where**?" _

_"Somewhere." _

_She pouted. Being sixteen was all well and good, but she could've lived without this huge coming out party for all her fathers' ancient friends and their puffed-up, egotistical children. Oh well, she'd put up with it for her birthday money. She couldn't throw her REAL party until she had enough to take ALL her friends to Hawaii with her, not just a few. _

_The car came to a sudden stop in front of the largest building in their city. Meilin **was **fond of it normally, with its glass-encased restaurant on every floor and its elegant stage where any number of performers had entertained, but now it was just beautiful beyond compare. Her favorite violets and blues were strung all over the room, as the tablecloths, as the banners, even as many of the guests suits and dresses. Her favorite dishes were piled high on a banquet table, and for once even her normal friends were there. Standing in what were obviously tailor-made suits and new gowns, her friends waved from their table near the staircase. There was even a cake the size of a small city! _

_Meilin stared. "Wow… Mom… Dad…. You did all this, just for me?" _

_Her mother smiled. "Just for tonight, the whole world is just for you, sweetie." _

_She hugged her parents. "Thank you!" she called as she ran down the stairs. _

Meilin smirked. Her parents had had quite the party for her for her 16th birthday, that was for certain. And yet a year later she still hadn't seen any of those people again. Not that she was complaining about not seeing her fathers' business partners, but still….

_She stopped at the bottom of the stairs. The music had started and the spotlight was shining on a lone performer. Though you'd think that a piano alone couldn't create the perfect tune that floated through the room, that's exactly what it did. The boy at the keys played beautifully, seemingly oblivious to the guests in the room. _

_"Eyes Rutherford…" her friend muttered, "He's supposed to be a prodigy…. The best young pianist in the world!" _

_Meilin shook her head to clear it of the music. It was almost hypnotic, but so was the boy creating it. His hair was white and silver, a stark contrast to Meilins' night black locks, but his clothes made it difficult to discern him from the night through the windows behind him. His leather clothes must have been custom made, for they were unlike any Meilin had before seen. The shirt was sleeveless, and buckled in three places on the right side. He wore black wristbands, and his pants were skintight. The look was finished by the cape that made him look nearly vampiric. Pale though he was, he was a girls dream, and his blue eyes were expressive, like those of an animal. The chain around his neck held a small pendant that shined like the full moon in summer. _

_As the piece finished, Eyes stood and took his bow. "He's amazing!" her friends whispered wistfully. 'Perfect' was the word she kept hearing. _

_As the next entertainers too the stage, Eyes stepped down and bowed directly to Meilin. "I hope you enjoyed the recital." He said, voice as smooth as polished silver. He spoke with every air of a nobleman. _

_Meilins' face flushed. "Very much so." _

_"Forgive me for being thus bold, but may I have the honor of this dance?" he asked as the second band struck up a ballad. _

And that had been it. She hadn't looked at another male since, nor had she missed even a one of his recitals. Not that she'd spoken to him since the party, though that was mostly her own fault. Every chance she'd had to speak with him, she'd either chickened out or turned from literate princess into babbling fool.

Unfortunately, this train of thought was halted by a bump and a yell outside her room. She ran to her window just in time to see one of the men outside her house go flying into the tree in her front yard. "Hey!" she yelled, jumping out the window. At the sound of her voice, the attacker fled. Meilin walked cautiously up to the other man laying facedown at the foot of the tree. She turned him over. "Hey…. You Oka-…. Ah!" she gasped. "Eyes?"

The boy moaned. The hat that had covered his hair had fallen, and though he looked tired and worn, he was unmistakably the same man that had played piano at the arena only a few days before. She glanced up. No one else lived nearby, and her parents wouldn't be home for days yet.

She sighed. With a grunt and a hiss, she hefted him onto her back and pulled him towards her home.

As Meilin pulled him into the house, his eyes focused for a split second. One name escaped his lips…. "Blade Children…."

She scowled. There was that name _again_.

March 14, 2006

Anyone who had ever sat in front of a computer or a television knew this date. The date the mysterious organization known as the Blade Children had launched the "Hades' Kiss" virus upon the world. The virus knocked out internet data everywhere in the world for a hundred and fifteen minutes of apocalyptic hell. Several trillion dollars were lost as stock records were deleted, credit card debt erased, and bank accounts lost. If affected everyone and everything connected to the internet. There was even a point where several automatic nuclear defense systems were seconds from launch. Had the systems not come back when they did, they would've awoken to a nuclear Holocaust.

Because of this virus, the United Nations halted internet use, and the emerging net culture of the late 20th century ground to a stop. Though FBI agents found the child, that's right, child, who was responsible for creating the virus, he refused to name his superiors. He muttered only one name:

"Blade Children…."

And then he shot himself.

And since, the Blade Children had been the demons of the Earth, the 'Al-Qaeda' of the new age. And though internet use was eventually reestablished, no one used it carelessly anymore. Many had tried and failed to find the origins of the Blade Children. Many had never been seen again.

Like Meilins' brother.

Dayne was an investigative genus when Hades' Kiss hit the internet. He was called in to investigate the Blade Children in New York City, and never came home.

He was 16 years old.

In the four years that followed, Meilin would grow up in a world of uncertainty and fear. Thought she had been but thirteen when last they spoke, she still remembered his last words…

"I'm going to find the Truth about the Blade Children."

And then the line went dead.

So had most of her hope.

For the next four years, she would dwell in the shadow of her only sibling. No matter what she did, he'd done it better. No matter what she won, it didn't matter because he'd won it first. Her skills were, at best, an imitation of her brothers'.

She set Eyes down on the couch. 'I wonder if he'll be all right.' She wondered, 'Should I call for an ambulance?'

The boy rolled over in his sleep. Meilin smiled. 'Wait and see, I suppose. The least I can do is patch that cut though….'

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Eyes awoke later, glancing around the room. Wherever he was, it was dark, but there was daylight behind the curtains. He winced as he noticed the pressure on his arm. Removing a blanket someone threw over him in the night, he saw his clothes torn and his left arm bandaged.

"Oh, you're awake?"

He turned to the voice. The girl who spoke was small, but pretty. Her hair was pulled up in partial buns, but even so it nearly trailed upon the ground. Her outfit was simple, a white T-shirt over Khaki's, but even so, his expression turned to one of recognition.

"You… You're the Li girl…."

Meilin smiled. "I'm flattered that you remember me, Mr. Eyes Rutherford. You hungry?" she asked.

Eyes shrugged. "What happened?" he asked as she handed him French toast.

She began slicing her own breakfast of the chair across from the couch. "You tell me. You were outside my house, being attacked, and when I rescued you, you muttered something about the Blade Children."

Eyes bit his tongue. 'I don't remember." He said lamely.

Meilin smiled kindly. "You hit your head on a tree. It's not too surprising."

He smiled back. "I'm grateful for your help and hospitality. Please, let me take you out sometime soon."

Meilin blushed. "It would be an honor and a pleasure." She replied.

BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

The sudden noise made both teens jump. Eyes grinned. "Cell phone." He said apologetically as he tugged it from his pocket. "Hello?"

"EYES!" yelled a female voice, "WHERE ARE YOU!"

Eyes held the phone at arms length. "My agent…" he said by way of explanation. He cautiously replied. "I'm fine. Just catching up with an old friend."

"Well you're late for an interview! Take your friend with you if you must, but GET GOING!" click.

Eyes hung up. "Heheh…. Guess it's time to get going." He said, dialing his limo. He turned around as he approached the door. "Aren't you coming?"

Meilin looked up. "Huh?"

"She said to take you with me, didn't she?" he asked, a mischievous look on his face.

Meilin grinned and ran to his side. "Yu-huh!"

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Meilin stared around the limo. "You could host my school's prom in here!" she said.

Eyes laughed next to her. "You'd think you'd never been in a limo before!"

"This is WAY ritzier than anything Mom or dad would buy!" she said.

The 'let's live normal' kind of rich, right?"

"Yu-huh." She said as the car screeched to a stop. Eyes climbed out and held a hand out to her.

"C'mon." he said, smiling. "We'll go out to eat after, if you still have an appetite after this

insanity."

She blinked and took his hand. "What'd you me- Ah!" she cried, covering her eyes with her arm. "It's broad daylight, are flashbulbs really necessary?"

Eyes smirked. "What, you thought the sunglasses were just for show?"

Meilin grinned. "I'd hoped so."

Eyes escorted her inside, shutting the doors behind him with a sigh.

"Is it always like that?"

"Mostly."

Meilin blinked rapidly. "My eyes will never be the same."

"You'll get used to it." He said as they entered the interview room.

After rolling her eyes through a hundred questions she knew the answers to, and being asked about as though she wasn't there, Eyes finally ended the interview. "I'm sorry about that…" he said apologetically.

She shrugged. "It was all fine until they asked about me."

"That was totally out of line. I apologize…."

"Oh, you didn't do anything wrong, Eyes." She said, turning red again.

"I shouldn'tve dragged you in there. Please, let me make it up to you by buying you dinner…"

Meilin smiled brightly. "Of course. But I've gotta go home and grab some things first…"

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Her eyes when wide. Sweat dripped down her face and her pupils dilated as she saw the apocalyptic destruction of the room. Meilins' house was as spotless as she'd left it everywhere but here. Here, in her own room, the devastation was total and complete. Her computer was ripped from the desk, the keyboard on her now diagonal bed. Her posters and figurines, shattered and torn, littered the floor. Her bookshelves had all been torn from her closet and her stereo was so much scrap metal. Even her dolls and clothes were torn and flung about the room.

But all that carnage was dwarfed in comparison by what had happened to her largest poster. Dripping red paint that looked like blood, her ceiling had been graffitied….

_Beware the Blade Children. Learn the lesson your family did not, and mind that which is your own concern! _

Meilin fell to her knees. "What…. The…?"

Eyes grabbed her shoulders. "Meilin… C'mon, let's go…."

She sobbed. "But…. My stuff… My room…"

"Things can be replaced! It's not worth your life. The one who did this might still be nearby… Let's have the police handle it…. C'mon…." He pulled her to her feet. Clutching onto him for support, she glanced, weak-kneed, at her valued possessions.

"All those rarities I'll never be able to get my hands on again…." She murmured.

"It'll be alright." He told her as he led her from the room. "It'll be alright…."

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Sheriff Hughes hung up the phone abruptly. "I'm sorry to say, but I can't find your parents anywhere."

Meilin pulled the blanket tighter over her shoulders and sobbed. "I knew it! I knew it…"

Eyes put his arm around her. "What?"

"Didn't you see?" she wailed, "'The lesson your family did not…' Not my brother… my _family_…. Mom and Dad are gone, they're just like Dayne now! I'm all alone…."

Eyes smiled sadly. "Don't worry… They'll find them… Meanwhile, you can stay with me!"

She looked up with a sniff. "I can what…?" she asked, disbelieving.

"I can't help but feel a little responsible." He said, his eyes betraying his words.

'Considering it was my fault.'

"It'd be an honor to have you stay with me until this all blows over."

She sniffed again. "O-Okay…." She said softly.

Eyes pulled her from her seat. "C'mon. You're probably starving." He said, taking her back to the limo.

Laying down on the seat, wrapped in a blanket, Meilin stared at the floor. Eyes put her head on his lap, smoothing her hair softly. "Don't worry… It'll be alright…. I promise."

Meilin sniffed. "How can you be so sure?" she asked softly, tears slipping from her eyelids onto his pants.

He froze. What was he supposed to say? That he was one of the cursed children? That her brother disappeared because of him? That she could be next for being with him?

She looked up. "Eyes?"

He looked at her. "Yeah?"

"Why have we stopped.?"

He blinked. It was true, the limo wasn't moving any longer. "Jeebes?" he asked. The driver lowered the window. "Yes, sir?"

"Why _have_ we stopped?"

"Some spot of bother ahead. Nothing to worry about." He said as the policeman gestured them through the site. Eyes lowered the window. "What happened… Oh dear Gods…"

Meilin sat up. "What?" she asked, moving towards the window.

"Don't look!" he said, shoving her away.

Another murder. It could be told by the grotesque destruction of the site, by the trademark red tags upon the area:

That same fool, he who destroyed Eyes' entire world, back again.

Meilin chanced a glance outside and cried out. "What… Another….. Eyes?" she stuttered, fear in her voice.

"Don't worry. It has nothing to do with us this time." He lied.

She hadn't seen the message written on the ground.

'_Beware the Cursed Blade Children, harbingers of the ancient Wave. Against this abominable wave, together we fight. _

_-Morgana, Queen of the Dark' _

He closed the windows. 'Here we go again...' he thought.

Meilin grabbed his arm. "Eyes... What do they want? What is the Truth about the Blade Children?"

He looked away. "I don't know."

"You're lying!" she yelled, "I can tell, you know more than you let on. Tell me!"

He shook his head. "No."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want you to end up like that, alright?" he yelled, gesturing outside.

Meilin glared. "What are you saying?"

"Those insane Soldats will kill anyone they associate with the Blade Children! That's why they ruined your stuff! Because of me!"

She gasped. "You...? What... No!"

"I'm one of the Blade Children." He said sadly.

She started crying. "No... You can't be... You can't be... One of those terrorists." She moved away, "You... You liar!"

He grabbed her arm. "Wait! Don't go... Let me explain..."

She glared. "So it was you? Brother died because of you!"

"You don't understand! I didn't want him to die! I didn't even want him to be there! But he wouldn't leave!"

She sobbed softly. He reached out and hugged her. "I'm sorry... He just... He wouldn't leave... Wouldn't give up... So they killed him."

She stopped crying, tears spent. Brother had died, but knowing that wasn't enough. "What happened?" she choked out.

He shivered. It wasn't something pleasant to look back upon, but she had the right to know. "I was in hiding in New York City. I don't know why, but the Les Soldats classified me as a Cursed Child... And they tried to kill me. Your brother was assigned to me for my protection against my will... He was so kind... He wanted to know _why_ we were Cursed... And when he went undercover to find out about the Les Soldats, he disappeared. I'd told him it was stupid to throw his life away, but he just smiled and said he had someone back home who would be better off if he returned with the information... He said it was worth the risk..."

Meilin nodded. "That's Brother... He never backed away from anything. As he said, 'If I don't do it, someone else has to.'"

Eyes glanced down. "We found his body in Yonkers a week after. Apparently they were waiting for us, because they ambushed us as we called the authorities. I was the only one who escaped. I've been on the run since, under the cover of my piano talents."

Meilin didn't understand. "How does being in the spotlight constitute hiding?"

"If a superstar disappears, people will notice quicker. That was my reasoning."

"Then what happened yesterday?"

"I was taking a walk, and one of them attacked. It was my good luck that I ended up near your house when I ran."

A sudden explosion rocked the car. "What the?" she yelled as she was thrown to the floor.

Eyes grabbed her arm. "C'mon! We need to get out of here!" he said, dragging her from the wreck.

She nodded and pulled him to the north. The sun was setting, and it was getting cold. She grabbed her cell phone, dialing the number of her police station on speed dial. "Not sure if you know this, but your friends investigating the car tagging on Fifth just got blown to smithereens! We could use some help!" she yelled as she ran.

She was suddenly jerked to the side by Eyes, causing her to drop her phone. The area she'd stood in a split second before was riddled with bullets. Her eyes went wide as she ran down another alley, still holding Eyes' hand. Suddenly turning on the main road, she tripped and lost her grip. "Eyes!"

"Mei!" he called, turning around and grabbing her hand again. "C'mon!"

She tried to pull herself up and winced. "My ankles busted! Run for it, Eyes!" she called as the noise of their pursuer tripping through the alley behind them rang in their ears.

"No way!" he called, pulling her up and putting her arm over his shoulder. "Now come on, quick!" he said, moving them away as fast as he could.

Unfortunately, that wasn't very fast.

"You kids are dead, you know that!" their pursuer screamed, firing bullets indiscriminately in every direction, often missing them by mere inches.

Meilin grimaced and bit her tongue. She wanted nothing more than to shout back some very nasty comments, but at the moment she valued her life a little too much to do so. She heard a yell and a thud behind her suddenly, and glanced back. "Eyes!" she called, gesturing behind them.

Sheriff Hughes laughed, sitting on top of their now unarmed would-be pursuer. "Need a hand, kids?"

Meilin laughed. "Took you long enough, you old geezer!" she chided the officer.

Eyes waved with his free hand. "Thanks for the save."

The man nodded. Part of the job." He said as other police cars arrived on the scene. "Now who is this freak…?" he asked playfully as he pulled off the mans mask.

Meilin nearly fainted. "DAD?"

The man glared at everyone around. "Fools. Curses. Scum of the Earth!" he spat.

In shock, Eyes let go of her arm, and she sank to her knees. 'My Father…. Is a member of Les Soldats?' she wept in her head.

Hughes handcuffed him and dragged him towards a car. Don't worry. It'll be okay now, kids."

Her Father held his head high. "Les Soldats will never fail, with or without me!" he declared as he was shoved in the car.

Eyes grabbed Meilin and hoisted her up. "C'mon Mei. It's you and me from now on." He said, taking her hand and walking off towards the sunset.

And from that day forward, it was.


End file.
